The following discussion of the background art is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention only. The discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to is or was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of the application.
In patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease, the diseased vessel wall is subject to injurious forces that promote plaque build-up and instability that may lead to coronary occlusion resulting in heart attack, ischemic stroke and sudden death.
The response to injury within the diseased vessel is dependent on the architecture and content of atherosclerotic plaques. Lipid-rich plaques with a neo-vascular base are particularly susceptible to the effect of injury, which may leave them vulnerable to neutrophil infiltration. Neutrophils that enter the interstitial space may become activated upon exposure to the plaque contents, inciting an aggressive inflammatory response that may accelerate plaque instability increasing the risk of plaque enlargement and rupture and hence increasing the risk of clinical events.
Despite routine use of anti-platelet and statin therapy, patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease continue to be at risk of cardiovascular events, possibly because these treatments fail to target some of the inflammatory pathways implicated in the disease.
A number of additional treatments exist for the prevention or reduction in risk of coronary heart disease, including: antiplatelet agents (besides aspirin), anticoagulants, angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs); aldosterone receptor antagonists (ARAs); beta-blockers calcium channel blockers and/or nitrates.
However, many of these treatments are recommended for acute conditions and do not address or provide for a long-term reduction in cardiovascular events in patients with clinically stable atherosclerotic vascular disease.
It is against this background that the present invention has been developed.
The present invention seeks to overcome, or at least ameliorate, one or more of the deficiencies of the prior art mentioned above, or to provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.